Pedersoli Brown Bess kit finishing touches

[4th Co'y Cmmdr]

Hello all,
I'm helping a young fellow finish a Pedersoli Bess from kit and note that there is a pronounced bump/raised wood around the tang extension on the stock between the wrist and the breech. Have any of you reduced the size of this oval shaped bump and have you taken some of the metal tang down along with the stock? I would think these both (metal and wood) need to be taken down a good 1/16".

Normally I would use a mid-range metal file to bring both the wood and the metal down at the same time. Although now I second guessing that approach...Wood first then bring down metal?

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[PathfinderNC]

I would strongly suggest you review Dave Person's thread on building/rebuilding a Pedersoli Brown Bess musket. It can be found here: New Reworking a Pedersoli Brown Bess

 

[Henry2357]

Hi, I have the same on my Indian trade and I smoothed the rim around the raised section. Then I brought the raised section down smooth with the tang extension.

 

[FlinterNick]

Historically the oval at the breech was concaved with a semi flat top shape.

I personally left mine pedersoli Bess (I’ve owned many), alone at the tang for a few reasons.

1. The pedersoli Bess is a 7/8 scale sized bess, it will never be short land Brown Bess no matter how much work is done to it. The buttstock, wrist, forestock, and barrel are all too small.
2. The area at the tang and wrist is delicate, too long and too thin for a bess, ideally it should be thicker and shorter to accommodate the recoil effect and at-east drills.
3. The concave look on a pedersoli bess tang, in my opinion doesn’t improve the look of the musket because of the wrist length, the ‘beaver tail’ as it was called, was not as pointed and was shorter so the concave looked much more in balance with the tang and wrist.

However if you’d like to change the Tang, Dave Person has a great demo on shaving down the tang to a more accurate detail.

I think though a better defarb for a pedersoli bess is to try to transform it into a committee of safety musket or militia musket. These guns were not Brown Bess’s but took on the pattern and look of a bess much like that of a variation musket such as a sergeants carbine. There is a lot of variation in the stocking styles of these muskets, so much that there really is no official pattern. Colonial restocked Brown Bess too.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Dave,
I don't understand why you and Regan don't just pop up the hill to my shop and I can show you.

dave

 

[TreeMan]

Hi Dave,
I don't understand why you and Regan don't just pop up the hill to my shop and I can show you.

dave

Dave, I read your thread on altering your Bess. I’m gonna use it to show my buddy who is a builder what I want done to mine lol. I’m terribly impatient and have zero wood working tools or skills. Your finished product made me hate on my Pedersoli Bess in its stock form.

 

[zerosprk]

I would strongly suggest you review Dave Person's thread on building/rebuilding a Pedersoli Brown Bess musket. It can be found here: New Reworking a Pedersoli Brown Bess

^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^
Unless you can make it to Dave's shop in person. If so, GO!!!